


Cruelty

by runningwafers



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Abusive Relationships, First Time, Gender Issues, Hate Sex, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, Violence, none of this is dealt with in a healthy way so tread carefully
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 05:27:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3369524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runningwafers/pseuds/runningwafers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mac and Dennis fight about who is more gay and then fuck some sense into each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cruelty

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place shortly after Charlie Work, when Dennis is losing it and becoming especially abusive. Heed the tags!

It starts off as a fight about nothing. They seem to be having those all the time anymore.

"Why does it matter, dude?" Mac is saying. "The dishes got done, so who cares?"

"Because Dee is-- I already goddamn explained it to you!" Dennis is standing over Dee's kitchen sink with a mug in his hand. He slams it against the cabinet, sending it shattering. The jagged handle remains in his hand, and Mac thinks he sees it draw blood. "You never fucking listen!"

Dennis gets like this a lot lately. Yelling, breaking things, scratching people (mostly Mac). It's getting really goddamn annoying, because Mac never asked for this, he's not the type of person who can calm people down and make them feel better. Every attempt at it just seems to rile Dennis up more, and Mac is rapidly adopting a habit of passively taking his aggression.

"Okay, sure," he finds himself saying. "Whatever, I won't leave shit in the sink again if it matters so much to you."

"That's not the point at all, goddammit!" He throws the handle into the sink. "Why are you like this?! Why can't you just--"

"I don't know, dude, forget it." Mac is so sick of this, so sick of talking Dennis down all of the time. Dennis seems to dislike this answer, but he doesn't say anything, instead taking a deep swig of the beer next to him. "You're so weak, Mac, do you know how frustrating that is to me?"

"Dude, I don't know what you want me to do," he starts, and then he flinches, because Dennis is gripping the beer bottle in his fist like he's ready for the kill shot.

"If you're so tough, and such a badass, then fucking _act like it_! Stop being such a weak, cowering baby all the time!"

Mac narrowly dodges the path of the beer bottle, which slams against the edge of the countertop and shatters spectacularly into the air. A shard of glass hits Mac right in the bicep. That's _it_.

"Are you fucking kidding me, dude?!" he roars, prying the glass out of his skin and throwing it on the floor. "What the _fuck_ is your problem? You can't keep lashing out at me like this!" He edges toward Dennis, who holds his ground. "You're losing it. And I'm so goddamn done, I'm done walking on eggshells to try to avoid you chucking goddamn glass objects at me!"

There's a spark in Dennis's eyes that Mac hasn't seen in weeks. "What are you going to do about it?"

Mac pushes him, harder maybe than he intended, and Dennis stumbles back into the cabinets. "Why won't you just take your stupid medicine?! The pills are prescribed to you, they're supposed to make you better."

"I'm surprised you haven't been slipping them into my coffee," Dennis says, propping himself up on the counter with a wince. "It's what I would have done."

"Goddammit it, dude, why won't you take this seriously?!" He pushes his hair back with both hands. "Why won't you even try to help yourself? Do you actually like what's happening to you? It's getting ridiculous, you keep pretending that everything is fine, I don't fucking understand how you can be in such denial about yourself and what you're doing!"

"You're pathetic," Dennis spits, a manic grin teasing at his lips. "Telling _me_ that I'm in denial? I'm pretending? You, Mac, are really going to accuse me of that?" Mac stumbles back, scrambling for a retort to Dennis's rhetorical questions. "You want to know a secret that's not really a secret, because everyone fucking knows?" Mac inhales sharply, wondering if Dennis can smell the fear on him. "You're fucking gay, Mac. You're so goddamn gay, the blind could see it."

It's the accusation he's been avoiding for years, and it hits him like a punch to the gut. Mac bites his lip, nearly drawing blood. " _I'm_ gay?" he sneers, failing to conceal the waver in his voice. "That's rich coming from you."

"What?"

Mac glares at him, steadying himself. "Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I don't notice the women's underwear that slip into the laundry, or know about the box of lipstick hidden in a detergent container under the sink in our old apartment?"

"That's--"

"Do you really think I don't know what you're doing when you put on that fucking garbage 80s playlist of yours?" It's something he's never wanted to bring up, but he can't hold it back now, not with Dennis hurling accusations at him. Mac has tolerated Dennis's weird feminine issues like a goddamn saint. "You really think I don't know, how long have we lived together?"

"You don't know anything about--"

"I've walked in on you! And I don't say shit, by the way, and you give me no credit for it!"

"Oh, right," Dennis says, waving his hand flippantly. "What about every day when you start waxing poetic about the latest beefcake you're into and I have to fucking act like I care and that it's totally normal for a straight man to have so much to say about men's physiques? Do you think it's not endlessly tiring to put up with that?!"

"Yeah, okay, well, what about when we were watching the Eagles play the Patriots a couple months ago and you drunkenly admitted you wanted to get fucked by Tom Brady? Not 'fuck,' I might add, 'get fucked.'"

Dennis scoffs. "Of course, you _would_ pay attention to the semantics of the phrasing..."

"How can you possibly turn that around on me, goddammit dude! You deflect, but you aren't denying shit!"

"As opposed to you?!"

"I'm perfectly comfortable admitting a very respectable appreciation of the male form--"

"Like the time you took us to a goddamn beefcake convention and made us grease up dudes while you had a boner the entire time?"

Mac puts his hands on his hips. "Okay, well, who had a raging hard-on during the extended dong scene in Thundergun?"

"You!" Dennis screams, his arms outstretched and shaking in frustration.

"I-- whatever, okay--"

"Oh my god!"

"I wasn't the one who wanted to rent the movie just for the extended dong scene in the first place--"

"Please, Mac, everybody loves to see a movie star hang dong, that doesn't mean shit."

"Oh yeah, well, you get off from role-playing as other dudes, that's pretty goddamn gay! You were ready to bang that tiny Asian dude while doing it! You've even pretended to be me, did you get off from that, too?"

"You mean the time that I met Chase Utley, a man you're desperately attracted to?"

"Whoa, Dennis, Chase is a six-time All-Star, there is nothing gay about having a favorite athlete, okay, I'm just a Phillies fan. I don't sit around talking about how much I wanna bang him like some people."

"Right, and so the love letter you wrote to him and the-- Whatever, fine, I have a thousand more examples, I don't need your pathetic crush to prove that you're a full-fledged homosexual."

"Pathetic?!"

"Jesus Christ, _that's_ the part you're going to deny?!"

"So far you've only accused me of admiring athletes and bodybuilders-- real, tough Americans-- there's nothing gay about that."

"There is when you jack off thinking about them!"

"Dude, you don't even get it--"

"I'm so fucking tired of these absurd leaps of logic you use to justify this shit to yourself!"

"Just because you can't understand--"

"And you're so goddamn obsessed with my dick, what's your excuse for that? You've always got some flimsy reason to barge in on me when I'm banging, just to get a live peak."

"You're one to talk, you sabotaged my dating video by telling the girls you were gonna be in the room watching us bang!"

 Dennis bites his lip, his face going red. "You banged someone with a dick!"

"I'm not the one wearing makeup right now!" Mac is starting to get desperate. "Or the one with a sex tape labeled 'Philip!'"

Dennis barks out a vile laugh. "Jesus Christ! Do you even hear yourself? How would you even know about that? Oh, yeah, because you _watch my goddamn sex tapes_ because you're _fucking gay as shit_!"

"I didn't watch--"

"You didn't watch, of course you didn't watch, you don't watch any of my sex tapes, you don't jack off in my bed staring at my naked body. Of course not!"

"You're the one constantly finding excuses to touch me," Mac sputters, because he is losing this argument, or maybe they are both losing. "Serenading me in public and wrapping your arms around me all the time."

"Manipulating you because you're obsessed with me! You're so desperate to fuck me, Mac, everyone can see it."

God _dammit_. "You're not even really a man, Dennis, so it wouldn't even be gay if I _did_ want to." It's too far, ah shit, it's too far, Mac knows it the second the words leave his mouth and sees Dennis start to shake.

"You goddamn son of a bitch, you take that back!" Dennis screeches, lunging at him.

Mac doesn't have time to brace himself against the attack, Dennis gets the upper hand and shoves him against the counter. The hard edge digs into his back, sure to leave a mark, as Dennis claws at him, scratching him-- God, Dennis can't even fight like a man. Mac kicks him in the shin and he stumbles, giving Mac enough room to land a punch that misses his eye and hits his brow.

"You motherfucker," Dennis snarls, tackling him. Mac doesn't react in time-- Dennis pushes him to the ground, slamming him against the floor. A shard of glass digs into Mac's back, but he's too pissed off to do anything about it. Instead he grapples with Dennis, trying to gain leverage and failing. Dennis pins Mac's arms at his sides and looks down at him with a sadistic grin.

"You're fucking hard, Mac," he taunts, rolling his hips. "What's your excuse for that?" Dennis is hard, too, but it doesn't fucking matter. Dennis craving dick will never absolve him of this sin. "You're going to try to tell me there's nothing gay about this, the way you're reacting to me?"

Mac just wants him to shut up, and so he does the only thing that comes to mind-- he reaches up and brings their mouths together. It's rough, barely a kiss. He's terrified Dennis is going to pull away and laugh at him, that he's responding just to make a point, but then Dennis sighs against his mouth and _fuck_ , no. Dennis is _into this._ Something inside of Mac breaks, the energy shifts, and suddenly he's too hot everywhere, wants too much, can't handle the feeling of Dennis's warm body against his. Shit, _shit._

He clutches at Dennis's back, buoyed by the revelation that he wants this, too, and snakes his hand under Dennis's shirt. Dennis sits up just enough to pull it over his head and toss it across the room. He fingers Mac's hem, and Mac takes the hint and leans up to rip off his own shirt. It's not until Dennis pushes him back against the floor that he remembers the glass, but he's too far gone to care. There's too much of Dennis that he wants to touch, he feels frantic. Dennis is more calculated, dragging his hand down to Mac's groin and palming him through his pants.

"Fuck," Mac grunts. "Just--"

Dennis is one stop ahead of him, sliding down Mac's zipper and freeing his cock. He takes it in his hand, stroking slowly, dragging his thumb across the head, and Mac nearly loses it. Dennis seems to sense the urgency and works his own cock free, stroking it and sighing. Mac loves Dennis's cock, has always admired it and he needs, he needs to touch it. He takes it in his hand and fuck, it's better than he imagined, thick and heavy, God,  _fuck._ Dennis groans above him and it's the best sound Mac has ever heard in his life.

Dennis swipes Mac's hand away and leans down, pressing their bodies together and kissing him again. There's so much contact, every part of Mac's body is on fire. Dennis starts to grind against him and oh Jesus Christ, he doesn't care anymore, he doesn't care if this is gay, if it sends him to hell. He clutches at Dennis's ass, edging him on, and rocks against him. Their pace increases as Dennis mumbles a litany of curse words against his mouth. Mac wants to last, can't stand the thought of this ending, but he can't hold on. He comes moaning Dennis's name.

"That's it," Dennis murmurs, still rocking against him, until Mac is completely spent. " _Fuck."_

Mac pushes them both up and takes Dennis in his hand again, stroking quick and dirty. He's dazed, it's always so hard to focus after coming, but he _needs_ to get Dennis off. He kisses his neck lazily, drunk on the sweet sighs and moans coming from Dennis's mouth. God, he is never going to be satisfied fucking girls again after this, shit.

When Dennis is close (and Mac knows the signs), he shoves Mac onto the floor and takes his cock back in his own hand, pumping desperately until he's coming onto Mac's stomach. Mac should be offended, should feel used and dirty, but mostly he's just in awe of the sight of Dennis looking so wrecked above him, knowing that he's the cause. He doesn't know if he's ever seen Dennis look this undone after banging (and he's watched all of his most highly rated tapes). It's a revelation.

Dennis flops down next to Mac as soon as he's finished, panting hard. Neither of them say anything. Mac doesn't know what to think, he feels high and wonderful except for the fact that he's just lost the argument he's been having with himself his whole goddamn life. Maybe this outcome was foreseeable, maybe he should have known the second Dennis accused him of being gay that there was nothing he could do to prove him wrong. At least Dennis went down with him. Mostly he doesn't want to think about it, there will be time for repenting later.

Mac eventually peels himself off of the floor and picks up his shirt, shaking it to get out any shards of glass before pulling it over his head (he gets come on it, but he'll worry about that later, he never liked this shirt anyway). There's glass and blood all over the floor, and Dennis is just lying in the middle of it, his eyes glazed as he stares at the ceiling. Mac shakes his head and grabs a broom from the closet.

"Move," Mac says quietly as he sweeps around Dennis. He doesn't budge and Mac nudges him with the broom. "You should get cleaned up." Dennis sits up and stares at him, and Mac has no idea what the protocol for this type of situation is. What is there to say?

"We need to move the hell out of Dee's apartment."

It's not what Mac was expecting, and he cracks a small smile. "She's definitely gonna bitch if she sees this mess." He extends a hand to Dennis to help him to his feet.

"I miss our apartment," Dennis says.

"Yeah," Mac agrees. He notices an open wound on Dennis's brow where he'd punched him earlier. "Shit, dude," he mutters, wiping away the blood with his thumb.

They're standing close now. Dennis opens his mouth, but something is Mac's expression must tell him he doesn't want to talk about it, because Dennis fists his hands in Mac's shirt instead. He kisses him then, soft and gentle, completely unlike earlier. It doesn't even occur to Mac to resist. The broom clatters to the floor as he wraps his arms around Dennis's back. He thinks maybe he's being tricked, that any second Dennis is going to pull away and call him a faggot, with this moment as the proof. It's not enough to make him stop.

When they pull apart, Dennis doesn't look at him, instead stepping back with an unreadable expression and going to Dee's fridge to pull out a beer. He doesn't offer one to Mac.

"You should really shower," Mac says, picking up the broom again. "You're bleeding all over the place."

"Yeah." Dennis takes a swig of his beer. "So are you."

"You shoved me onto a floor full of glass."

Dennis shrugs, offering no apology. "Fine, I'll shower."

He takes the beer with him as he heads for the bathroom. Mac finishes cleaning the mess, and then washes himself in the sink. The sight of blood running down the drain is oddly calming. When he thinks he's picked all of the glass out of his skin (that he can reach, at least), he grabs a beer and plants himself on the couch. His wounds are starting to hurt like a bitch and he wonders if he should go to the doctor. He's afraid to, these days-- it's getting harder and harder to get away without paying for treatment. 

When Dennis comes out of the shower, he suggests ordering take out. They get Chinese and spend the rest of the evening watching ESPN like nothing has happened. Dee gets home late, and immediately starts bitching about her latest dating escapades. No matter how much he tells her he doesn't care, she keeps squawking. God, it's annoying.

"I let you live here for free and all you do is drink all of my beer and complain and whine at me when I try to talk to you!" 

"Do you think we want to live here, Dee?!" Dennis retorts.

"I don't give a shit what you  _want_ , would you prefer to be on the streets? Sleeping with Frank and Charlie? What exactly do you think your options are?"

"Whatever, Dee," Mac says, eyes still on the TV.

"You guys are assholes. Eat a dick." She marches into her room and slams the door.

"What's her problem?" Mac asks, and Dennis just shrugs.

They go to bed not soon after that. It's no different than usual-- they brush their teeth in the kitchen, not wanting to deal with Dee. Dennis spends his usual twenty minutes on his 'skincare routine.' Mac wants to pretend that nothing has happened and Dennis doesn't give away that anything has.

It continues like that for a few days, to the point that Mac starts to wonder if he imagined the whole thing. Dennis still touches him, and stands too close sometimes, but it's the same as always. If Mac has to lock himself in the back office a little more often than usual, well, nobody needs to know. On the fourth day, Dennis tells him about his latest scheme to get Dee out of the apartment. For 'research,' of course. Mac doesn't allow himself to consider that it'll be anything different than usual.

"Thank god," Dennis sighs the second Dee is out the door. Mac is already opening up the laptop, but Dennis slams it shut, leans into him, and kisses him. _Oh_. "I want you to fuck me," he murmurs against Mac's ear, "in Dee's bed."

What is Mac supposed to say to that? It's quick and dirty, and Mac has trouble even lasting long enough to make it inside of Dennis at all, but it's also fucking _amazing_ and Mac hopes that they will continue to do this, like, all the time.

"Stop looking at me like that, dude," Dennis says afterward.

"Like what?"

"Like a pathetic puppy." He fishes around in Dee's nightstand. "Goddammit, doesn't she have any cigarettes?"

"Dee doesn't smoke." He's staring at the ceiling now, still smiling-- he's not about to let Dennis ruin his good mood.

"Even after sex, though?" He slams the nightstand drawer shut. "We should try to wash the sheets before she gets back. She's gonna notice."

"But this bed feels so good," Mac says, stretching and sighing happily. "I miss sleeping in a real bed."

Dennis hums his agreement. "It is getting real annoying, sleeping on the goddamn floor every night." He pulls the blankets up and sighs. "We should steal Frank's credit card sometime, rent a hotel room."

Mac has to bite his lip because that sounds _perfect_. A comfortable bed and uninterrupted fucking, shit. He can't help himself, he leans over and pulls Dennis into a kiss. He knows that Dennis typically hates kissing, that he might be pushed away, but then Dennis fists his hands in Mac's hair. It spurs Mac on, he loves this, has always loved lazily making out after sex. It's just that usually the girls he bangs lose any appeal they'd ever had the second Mac has blown his load. This is different, this is nice.

They're both too into it to pay attention to anything else, like the sound of someone walking into the apartment. It's not until the bedroom door is actually opening that Mac realizes they are no longer alone. He scrambles to get off of Dennis and looks wide-eyed at Dee, who is standing in the doorway looking angry and unsurprised.

"Oh goddammit."

**Author's Note:**

> I borrowed some stuff from the Sunny self-help book.
> 
> Disclaimer: I know their conversation about sexuality/gender is woefully misinformed and pretty much everything about this pairing is, you know, terrible and abusive. I assume if you're reading IASIP fanfic you know what you're in for, trash-wise. None of what is said here reflects my own opinions.
> 
> I strongly appreciate feedback!


End file.
